


When the Seasons Change

by xwingsandlightsabers



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Police Officer AU, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 04:29:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17697671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xwingsandlightsabers/pseuds/xwingsandlightsabers
Summary: He saw nothing but red. He put a new clip in his pistol and stood up, teeth gritted and bared. He went running across, yelling her name. Rey opened her eyes at the sound of the close gunshots just in time to see the van’s driver aiming the pistol at him.





	When the Seasons Change

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on ao3. The story is based on the beautiful music video for the song "When the Seasons Change" from Five Finger Death Punch. It's a song tribute to all the police officers that have fallen in the line of duty. Although the band sings a lot of heavy metal songs, this one isn't- it's a lot calmer and I recommend seeing the music video. Pardon the gross writing, I'm trying to figure out how to indent.
> 
> Word Count: around 2500

Ever since the day he’d defended her from those bullies on the basketball court, Poe wanted to become a police officer. It brought out what he wanted to be and all it took was a group of bullies and the new girl, Rey Kenobi. 

The group of kids that called themselves the “First Order” came and pushed her around, trying to steal her ball. He’d watched as they pushed her down and passed her ball around to get it away from her. That was what did it for him. He’d dropped his ball and walked over, stepping in front of her. 

“Give her ball back, guys! It’s not funny!” The tall one, Ben, pushed him.

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it, shrimpy?” Poe’s fist clenched when he saw how upset the new girl was. He suddenly leaped and tackled Ben to the ground as the two other, taller kids tried to pry him off. The girl watched until it was over, which had all the bullies leaving with some sort of injury. He walked over to her and wiped his bloody nose.

“Who are you?’ She asked. Poe held out his hand.

“Poe Dameron.” At first, she shyly looked at his outstretched hand, but then she softly took it and shook it. 

“I’m Rey Kenobi. I just moved here yesterday from Jakku, Arizona.” Poe smiled warmly.

“This is D’Qar. Welcome.” They smiled shyly and talked a little bit. They talked about their hometowns, and they told each other about the landmarks and good hangout places. They especially became close over their common dream: to be a cop. They went home after, waving goodbye to each other.

  
  


Twelve years later, they were doing pull-ups at the police academy. Rey was always being picked on for her height, and Poe had picked up on it. She ended her reps and talked to Poe as he finished his. He was about to do his last one when he looked at where she was, only to find out she wasn’t there. 

“Rey?” He suddenly felt slender arms wrap around his waist as a weight hung from his back. Rey buried her face into his back and giggled, Poe smiling back at her as they hung there off the ground. He giggled and swung back and forth. She dropped off of him and walked over to the giant tire.

“Get over here and flip this tire, Dameron!” Poe swung off the bar and ran over, grabbing it. 

“You know I can’t do this.” Rey deadpanned. 

“Today’s the day you will! Now, flip it!” He grabbed the edge and squatted down so his back was straight. “Lift, Poe! LIFT IT!” 

Poe yelled aggressively and started to lift it, Rey cheering him on. He got the tire up and flipped it, finishing the yell with a growl. His curls had fallen across his face, and Rey walked up and gave him a high five. They’d also repelled down a wall, after which Rey gave Poe a piggyback ride. They were both laughing like fools when they approached the end of the field. He got off her back and hugged her.

“Graduation, here we come!” They walked back to the barracks and went inside their respective rooms. The next day was the proudest Rey ever was, walking across the stage in her police cadet uniform and receiving her badge. And as she looked behind her at Poe, she knew everything was going to be fine.

  
  


“Ready for this mission?” Chief Organa handed them a report on where to go as they walked in. Poe’s eyes widened in the way they did every time he was given a report. Rey giggled when the goofy grin on his face grew. 

“Oh, yes!” Rey smiled along with Leia as she said she was ready as well. It was two years since their graduation from the police academy, and Leia could see they were so close, she partnered them up.

“Good luck, and be careful. And, Dameron…” The handsome man turned around. 

“Yes, Chief?” 

“Don’t do anything reckless.” He saluted lazily, smiling.

“You’re the boss.” 

“Get out of my office, you two.” 

When they got outside, Poe went to hand her the keys as Rey grabbed at them. He pulled them away and held them up out of her reach as she jumped, frustrated.

“Poe!? You never let me drive!” He laughed, the same happy laugh that made Rey feel a bloom of happiness blossom in her chest.

“Maybe when you finally do your share, Sunshine.” He winked cheekily and got in the car. Rey got in the other side and huffed in frustration. 

“Fine. Just drive, idiot.” He laughed again and started the car and drove off.

 

“Black One, shots have been fired at the bank on Yavin Street. We need backup, officer down. Three bandits headed S on Takodana Highway.” Poe turned on the siren and lights after Rey nodded and put her cap on. 

“Roger that, Snap. We’re on our way.” Rey knew Kare was his partner, both in the force and in marriage, but she could worry about that later. Right now, she and Poe had criminals to chase. They found the white van and chased it, Poe pushing the pedal to the floor as the van weaved around. The chase went on for ten minutes before coming to a halt at a dead end street. The van swerved around and the crooks got out, firing their pistols at them. Rey recognized the tall one as the one that pushed her down back in her childhood. Rey ran across and dodged behind a crate as the red-haired man and a tall, blonde woman shot at her. She took her pistol off the safety and inhaled.  _ 3...2...1… _

She stood up and fired shots, ducking back down to avoid a spray of bullets. She gestured over to Poe as he nodded. 

She never saw the bullet. She was so concentrated on aiming at the people in the van that the impact scared her. She was sent sprawling back onto the pavement with a grunt as she stared at the sky and tried to get her bearings. She heard Poe scream her name and shoot back at the van. She saw black as the shots went quiet, except for the clicking of two people reloading their pistols. 

He looked at Rey with tears threatening to spill from his chocolate eyes. He saw her lying motionless on the ground.  _ No. No, no, no! Not before I could tell her how I felt. _

He saw nothing but red. He put a new clip in his pistol and stood up, teeth gritted and bared. He went running across, yelling her name. Rey opened her eyes at the sound of the close gunshots just in time to see the van’s driver aiming the pistol at him.

“POE!” It was too late. He froze to look at the driver before the bullet collided with the left side of his neck. He grunted and fell, the spray of blood from his neck hitting the wall behind him. The three crooks got in the van and tore off, but not before Rey fired three shots into their backdoors. She heard the tires screeching farther and farther away, waiting until it was silent. The only sound was the breeze blowing through the alley. 

“POE!” She scrambled over to him, her eyes blurred with tears. She placed her hand on his neck to apply pressure, sniffling. “Poe...no.” He answered her, his voice strained. 

“R-Rey…” She moved his cap aside and sat down, gently lifting his head and laying it in her lap. 

“Black One to squad. Officer down! I repeat, officer down! End of Jakku Road off of Takodana Highway. Bleeding from the neck, half-conscious! Over!” She started breathing heavily as she looked down at her partner’s beautiful eyes. She brushed his curls back out of his face and started crying, repeating his name!

“POE! Stay with me! Please!” 

“Roger that, sending the medical team to your location. Over.” She saw Poe start to close his eyes, groaning. 

“No! I’ll be damned if you’re going to die on this mission because of some little accident! Keep your eyes open and look at me!” Rey ran her fingers through his hair as he let a breathy sigh escape his lips.

“R-Rey….I……..I……” The ambulance’s siren became audible.

“Poe, stay awake! Please! Please don’t do this!” The ambulance grew closer.

“R-Rey! I…..I’ve al...ways…..” His eyes shut as Rey shook him. She let out a wail as the ambulance came to a halt. The medic, Finn, jumped out and ran over. 

“Rey! Are you okay?” She inhaled a shaky breath.

“Just help Poe, Finn, please!” He nodded and set to work on his other friend as Dr. Kalonia came over and tried calming her down. She talked all the way up until they put Poe on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. She sat there on a tire and looked at her partner’s badge, running her thumb along the words on the top: D’QAR POLICE DEPARTMENT.

“There was nothing you could’ve done. You didn’t know it would happen. Take a ride back to the station in the car.” She gently squeezed her shoulder as she stood. Her head hung low as tears dripped down her cheek and onto the asphalt.

  
  


The next few days were hell. She couldn’t see Poe because he was in the ER. The doctors were watching him 24 hours a day, making sure he was getting his dressings changed and IVs kept up. He still hadn’t woken up. The only call she’d gotten was when they said he would be okay and that was on his admission day. She started living with him a few weeks ago, and being in his house right now wasn’t helping her at all.

She’d tried everything possible to try and cheer up. Poe would be okay. Her Poe would be okay. She’d tried snuggling with BeeBee, his corgi. She’d tried watching happy Disney movies. She’d even went out with Rose, but that backfired when she said she’d lost her sister, Paige, during a drug raid. Rey woke up not feeling like doing anything. She sat in the living room and stared out the window, BeeBee on her lap. She sighed and got up, walking over to the mantle on the fireplace.

She picked up the picture of when they were kids and went as cops on Halloween. She was reminded of how happy they looked, their fake badges shining on their chests. She smiled to herself and started tearing up. Her eyes wandered across the shelf before landing on his mother’s flag. She was a top police captain and she had gotten killed in the line of duty trying to defend a school from a shooter. 

She looked at the other picture, the one where they just graduated from the academy. Poe’s father took the picture after he surprised them both with a confetti bomb. She teared up again, knowing that he was upset when he got the call from Chief Organa. Kes had already lost his wife, he didn’t want to lose his son as well. She stopped daydreaming about the events that led up to the photos when the sound of a phone ringing cut through the air.

“He’s going into shock, Rey!” Finn’s urgent voice tore her heart apart.  _ No, NO,  _ **_NO_ ** _!  _ She dropped the phone and ran out the door to the car, leaving a confused Finn on the phone.

She nearly broke every law in the book on her way to the hospital and found Finn as soon as she burst through the doors. 

“Where is he? I need to see him!” Finn grabbed her hand and ran through the hospital, Rey starting to tear up. 

“Down there, Rey. I gave you clearance to see him!” Rey faced him, crying.

“Thank you!” She hugged him and took off down the corridor, dodging wheelchairs and nurses walking through. She made it to the room and looked in through the reinforced glass. 

The doctors were around him, trying to give him CPR as his pulse suddenly flattened. The head doctor brought out the defibrillator and placed it on his chest.

“Clear!” His body jumped as the shock traveled through him. No pulse.

“Clear!” Again. No pulse.

Rey banged on the window, wailing his name. She gasped when they pulled away to reveal the monitor. A single beat. Another one. And another one. His pulse picked back up to normal, and the doctors visually relaxed. 

Movement. His head slowly turned to face her as she smiled, tears still streaming down her face. He smiled as she braced herself against the glass, his hand going to his chest in a fist. He pumped it there a few times before pointing to her, smiling wider. The doctor came out and let her in.

She was at his side in an instant, her lips slamming onto his as happy tears streamed down both of their faces. His hand went to her waist as hers went to his hair.

“Glad you feel the same way, Sunshine.” She laughed as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. She blushed and looked at him.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I was worried about you.” Rey gave him his badge, the blood having been scrubbed off. 

“Oh, and Sunshine?” He asked as she went to leave. 

“Yea?” She turned back to him.

“I have to ask you something.”

 

It took three months for Poe to heal, go through rehab, and retrain for the force. But in those three months, Rey and Poe had started dating and grown closer than they ever were when they were friends. And now it was their first mission since the injury.

Poe and Rey left the station and walked to their new squad car. Poe reached into his pocket and grabbed the keys, holding them out to Rey. She stood and crossed her arms, waiting for him to lift them up to where she couldn’t reach but he never did. He cocked an eyebrow and held them out to her with a warm grin on his face. Rey looked from the keys to him and grabbed them, tossing them up and catching them. She slid into the car behind the wheel and started the car, looking softly at him. He smiled fully, his eyes crinkling at the corners. 

And as they pulled out of the station, he fingered his mother’s ring beneath his shirt.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! This was a lot to write in a couple of hours. Feel free to comment and give me constructive criticism. Also, I was thinking about re-writing the end so he actually dies so there's an even more angsty version (even though it would KILL me). What do you guys think?


End file.
